General tips for someone returning to cycling?

[heliix]

Hey everybody!

I'm Grace and I'm an out of shape 18-year-old. When I was about 15 or 16, my dad (who is an avid cyclist) and I would go on 3 or 4 rides a week, sometimes up to 50 miles a day. 3 years later, here I am, slim, but severely unfit. I run up a single flight of stairs and I'm winded! I also have asthma, so this is something that is hard for me to work with on certain days, but I try to work past it and carry my inhaler while riding.

While I'm not completely new to cycling, it would be great to get some new tips (to add to what my father has told me) from everybody on how I should start training this summer to just get myself to a point where I feel more healthy and can ride for more than a few miles without feeling as though I'm dying!

Thanks so much for any advice you can give!

 

[pauldavis985]

Hi,
My name is Paul. I live in USA. Well cycling is a very good outdoor toy. I would advice you to do some breathing exercises, warm up exercises like stretching before hitting the paddle. Also never go cycling empty stomach.. Always have some fruits, milk, banana shake or any thing in fruit you like 20-30 min before cycling... Prefer milk over energy drinks.. By this you would definitely go for that extra miles and last tip is have patience.. Best of luck )










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For outdoor toys click: childrens outdoor toys and outdoor toys

 

[vspa]

Originally Posted by pauldavis985 .

Hi,
My name is Paul. I live in USA. Well cycling is a very good outdoor toy. I would advice you to do some breathing exercises, warm up exercises like stretching before hitting the paddle. Also never go cycling empty stomach.. Always have some fruits, milk, banana shake or any thing in fruit you like 20-30 min before cycling... Prefer milk over energy drinks.. By this you would definitely go for that extra miles and last tip is have patience.. Best of luck )

yes, all good advice, try to ride everyday a little bit, make it a habit.
in your favor is a young age, youngsters get fit much faster and recover what they have lost easily,
against you.. college, where they will suck time/life out of you !!

 

[SierraSlim]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Hi, Helix![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Congratulations for having the sense to get back into shape while you're still young! I waited until I was 59 and 120 lbs overweight to make that decision, and it's a lot harder now than it would have been at your age, lol. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]I also have asthma, and I can tell you what helps me. Of course, every body is different, and yours may react differently to the 'stress' of exercise. It may react worse, depending on the severity of your asthma, or your youth may help you out in that area. But for me, the key is to start slow and easy, and to progress slowly. I know the temptation is to see how fast you can get up to X miles or X speed, but for asthmatics that can be a dangerous temptation. I started out very slowly at very low mileage, both because of my asthma and because I was so old and out of shape -- so I only did about 1 mile at 5-6 mph my first day. Every time I try to make a jump in mileage or distance too rapidly, my asthma flares, so I've had to learn not to do that. I try to progress at a rate of about 10% per week. So if I did 10 miles one week, I did 11 miles the next, not 30. It's a little frustrating to go so slowly, but I'm now up to 38 miles a day, and my asthma hasn't acted up lately. I AM very careful, when I'm riding, to pay attention to my breathing and to keep it deep and regular, instead of panting. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Another thing that helps me is to watch my allergies. Since asthma is a form of allergic reaction, it acts up in me whenever my allergies are acting up. So I take allergy medicine almost preventatively, and my asthma has been much better since I started that. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]I hope this helps. Keep your inhaler with you, and let us know how it goes. Good luck![/COLOR][/SIZE]

 

[heliix]

Thanks for the great advice everybody! I just hit the road yesterday and realized just how out of shape I am... Yikes!
Patience will be my biggest obstacle, I think, but I'll make it work! And being a vegetarian makes it really easy for me to keep a healthy diet, so hopefully this will be in my favor.

Thanks again!!